Oregon Trail

Heck yes I'm gonna ford that river.

Oregon Trail was an AWESOME computer game. You played it on a mac and it used big ol' floppy disks.

If you were like me, you played it at school during your 1/2 hour of computer time. This was never enough time to actually make it to Oregon, so sometimes you stayed in at recess to try and finish the game. Just me?

Now, maybe you picked a "grueling" pace, but most of your family died along the way. Because, duh, you put your name first on the list - so you are the last one to die.

And the best part about the Oregon Trail? HUNTING!!! How fun was that? You needed to make sure you stocked up on bullets.

And it was always so annoying how you could kill a 1000lb buffalo but could only carry 100lbs back.

Making it to Oregon was relatively anticlimactic....but it was still one of the greatest games ever.

If you want to be nostalgic, you can play it online for free here:

http://www.virtualapple.org/oregontraildisk.html

Jason Aldean

We went to the Shoreline Amphitheater this weekend for Brooks and Dunn's Final Rodeo Tour.

Jason Aldean opened for Brooks and Dunn. He's most famous for Big Green Tractor. What was most impressive was his ability to sign autographs while singing. That takes some serious talent.

I was impressed.

Crayons

I never really realized how neurotic I was...well, I mean, I know I'm kinda weird about some things, but whatever.

We love our little neighbor girls. We love them so much, that we bought a box of art supplies so that they have something to play with when they come over. The kit comes with crayons, colored pencils, pens etc. You get the idea.

They were over and coloring tonight and broke a few crayons while they were coloring. And then I realized....I've never broken a crayon (I take that back, I broke one once, and then spent the next 15 minutes making it a splint out of chopsticks and masking tape). In fact, I've never dumped crayons out of a box. When I was little I had a 72 crayon pack. It looked like the picture below. HOWEVER, the crayons were grouped by color and they NEVER came out of that order. One comes out, I colored with it, and then it went right back in the case.

(I did the same thing with Mr Sketch markers, and to this day, it drives me nuts when people don't put the caps back on felt tip markers or dry erase markers, Hello? Aren't you worried it's going to dry out?)

Turns out, Nick was similar. Wasn't a crayon breaker and liked them in order. So I guess we do work well together.

We tried

On our Sunday afternoon stroll through DC, we tried to get into the Library of Congress.

To our dismay, it was closed. Lame. FYI - the King Country Libraries are open on Sundays.

We also noticed this utterly confusing set of signs.

It might be hard to read but one says "Entrance" and the other says "Exit Only."

Walking signals

One of things we noticed while in DC, was that they had INCREDIBLY long walking signals. Some were +60 seconds. Crazy, I know! It was also interesting that the police don't give a darn if you jay walk. I got yelled at in college for jay walking, so I'm very sensitive about it now.

In any case, the long signals allowed me to stand in the middle of a street and snap this little beauty. Nick was highly stressed by the situation, worried we'd get run over.

Sunday Mornings in DC

The day after the wedding was positively lovely. We started off with a delicious breakfast casserole made with crescent roll dough, breakfast sausage, eggs and cheese (who doesn't like that?). Then I made some red velvet cupcakes to thank my wonderful hosts!

We headed out the door, cupcakes in hand, on our way to Eastern Market. A lovely indoor/outdoor market/flea market type place.

We needed to confirm the correctness of this sign. Don't want any false advertising. Kelly and Nick confirmed. It indeed DID conform to their backs.

Overheard while wandering the market "do you want a hot dog on a stick or a pickle?" Hmm...wonder what they decided on.

So Sad

DC was having some very summer-like weather while we were there. It felt warm and HUMID...ick!

If you've ever been to DC, you know that there is NO food for a 2 block radius around the mall. If you haven't been to DC, just remember to eat before you get there.

Now, while there aren't any restaurants, there are street vendors. They sell, drinks, hot dogs and ICE CREAM! Ice-cream-man quality ice cream. I've always been a sucker for the rocket pops myself (so patriotic, and everyone knows that blue is the best flavor...err....color?).

As we were walking down the mall, we saw this sad sad sight. A popscicle dying on the hot ground, melting away into oblivion. So sad.

Tying the knot, Issaquah style

The main reason we were in DC was to attend Karen and Michael's wedding. Who are Karen and Michael? The only couple we know that has dated longer than us. Yep, that's right. They have us by a few months....although by the time we do the deed in November, we may have them beat. But let's be honest 10+ years is pretty impressive. You don't really know a person until at least the first 7.

Karen and Michael, like Nick and I, have been together since our days back at Issaquah High School. For us, the wedding was like a mini high school reunion, but just with the people you were friends with :-) Which was great.

Give me a break, this was after some pretty intense dancing.

First dance...well, first as a married couple. They've been cutting it up for 11 years.

And the cake, made by one of the bridesmaids. I got some tips on Italian buttercream. Yum!

It was a WONDERFUL wedding! We couldn't be happier for the 2 of them. Congrats!

The power of the internet

So here's the deal. I got involved with Relay for Life during college. My good friend, Kelly, is a HUGE supporter of the American Cancer Society and got me involved (for more on Kelly, see my other post today).

Cancer has affected many people close to me, and I choose to fight back by participating in Relay for Life!

During the event, members of our team will continuously walk around a local track - for 24 hours. Yes, that's right, we walk in the middle of the night. Last year I logged 26.2 miles and this year I hope to top it.

But here's where you (faithful blog reader) come in. I have a decent following for someone who writes about absolutely nothing important. But I like to believe that you keep reading because you find it entertaining. (And I hope you've noticed that I've blogged at least once a day since January 1st....yay for new year's resolutions...forget saving the world or losing weight, I'm gonna blog everyday).

If you've found my blog to be at least $5 worth of entertainment (keep in mind I'll continue to blog until the end of the year) I'd love for you to donate to my efforts. Also keep in mind that the following things all cost more than $5

• 2 lattes
• a car wash
• a beer at a baseball game
• movie theater popcorn
• a Subway foot long (5, 5 dollar foot long!)

And if you've found my blog to be the exact opposite of entertaining BUT you think cancer stinks and want to help me kick its ass, I'd love for you to donate to my efforts.

And if neither is the case, that's a bummer. But this is the only time I'll bug my faithful readers about it.

And part of me is just interested in seeing if a bunch of $5 donations can add up to something much bigger.

DONATE!!

KJR

Kelly Jean Ronan and I were RAs together in Lander hall at UW. We've traveled to Disney World together and share a mutual love of GLEE.

She was our lovely host this weekend, letting us crash at her awesome house (located on Independence Dr., no less).

During a break from her hectic work schedule, she met us for dinner at a local Thai restaurant where she and Nick bonded over glasses of Blue Moon.

Kelly indulged me and made an honest effort to appear like she was sipping her beer. Nick held the glass up to his mouth with the thought bubble "ugh, why is Bryn making me do this."

Dear Kelly, we had lots of fun in DC! Thanks for letting us hang out!

Tangy Sweet

What trip would be complete without dessert at the local frozen yogurt shop. Voted DCs best, it didn't disappoint. I ordered the original with strawberries and mochi (no the dog). It was so delicious we had it twice.

It's not self serve, more like pink berry. I can eat more when it's the tangy yogurt flavor.....probably because it seems like it's healthy. Oh well.

The stupid Washington Monument

This is my 3rd trip to DC and the 3rd time I have tried to go up the Washington Monument. I appreciate that almost everything in DC is free. But it's really annoying when you have to show up at o'dark-thirty to get your free tickets. I know....I shouldn't complain....it's free for heaven's sake. But I feel like us west coasters have a serious disadvantage. The WA Monument suggests you show up 1-2 hours before the ticket booth opens. It opens at 8:30....so they want us to show up between 6:30 and 7:30. That's 3:30AM-4:30AM PST. Eek. Needless to say, we still have not ventured up the WA monument....and we may never have the chance.

But that's ok. Because our awesome DC tour guide, Kelly, suggested we head up the Old Post Office Tower. Very short wait, and you actually get a view of the W.M.....best of both worlds.

It's actually a bell tower. And a clock tower I suppose

We learned a little about bell ringing - or change ringing as it's called. Here are the highlights:

1. Non-competitive

2. Non-violent (because that was my first concern)

3. Highly stimulating intellectually

4. Mildly demanding physically (phew)

5. It's kinda like yoga (I paraphrased this one(

This is an engineering marvel if I've ever seen one. Instead of a classy screen to show us the video about bell ringing, they've hung an old dell laptop using 2 mini eye bolts and some chain. I can appreciate the resourcefulness, but wonder if it was the best use for the laptop. In any case, it got my attention.

Views from the top.

And another.

This is from the inside.

They let us where?

Nick and I were lucky enough to score 2 different tours of the White House. That's right, I said TWO!!!

The first tour was of the East Wing. They didn't allow cameras.....so no pictures. Each room is closely monitored by burly secret service men...who know all the finer points of the White House china, marble fireplaces and first lady portraits.

On Saturday we were treated to the Garden Tour. This happens once a year, so we lucked out. And we had fabulous friends that hooked us up with tickets :-)

You can see on the map where we were allowed to go.

The obligatory "I'm in front of the white house" pose.

And another for good measure.

The White House putting green. I could use one of these! It's awfully flat....

This was a nice angle.

Aww, that's fun.

Protecting the kitchen garden and all that delicious swiss chard.

View of the monument.

We could also visit the Children's garden....but the line was REALLY long....so we opted to bypass the garden.

Thank goodness there was a sign.

Skype

Skype is awesome. You can video chat for free as long as you have internet. My sister is currently traveling the world so Skype is the only way to talk to her - she has an emergency cell phone but there's a delay and it's really annoying.

So I leave Skype "on" just in case Stace needs to a get a hold of us. But when you leave skype on, you get random people that try and skype with you. Like:

Cheating_wives

Yep, that's the screen name. They also provided a link to a website with the same name. Awesome.

Just got another from Moscow Dating. My screen name must imply that I'm looking for a woman.

DC!

We are currently in DC for the Kure/Papadales nuptials.

Today we are lucky enough to get a tour of the White House. They want you practically naked. No bags, no camera. Basically, bring your ID and nothing else.

I'll report back....no pictures, just words. Since we can't take our camera. I've got my fingers crossed that we'll see an Obama. I'm not picky. I'll take any of them :-)

Dancing in the aisles

I snapped this photo during the concert. See the guy? He was a big guy, easily over 6 feet and nice broad shoulders....not your typical Swifty fan. He was taking his daughter/sister/niece to the concert - or using her as an excuse attend the concert and not look out of place.

Either way, he was singing along to Gloriana, Kellie Pickler and Taylor and it was adorable. He was bobbing his head and clearly enjoying himself. I love it.

Taylor!!!

And finally the main event! Quick side story - we went to the Spaghetti Factory before the show - who doesn't love the Spaghetti Factory? So we get there and it's PACKED - lots of moms and teeny bopper daughters. Being the geniuses that we are, we check the bar - EMPTY! Perfect.....but we started a trend and pretty soon the place was packed...with KIDS! Apparently, as long as they don't sit at the actual bar, they are allowed in the bar. Ugh...really detracts from the atmosphere when there are screaming kids and parents all around. But it was fine. We got our French bread, mizithra cheese pasta and ice cream. We were happy.

The fans going crazy....note to self...my music taste is somewhere in line with 12-14 year old girls. Oops.

She opened with You Belong With Me, dressed in her band outfit. I have a special place in my heart for band nerds.

She had an awesome stage made of video screens. The screens changed for every song and looked pretty darn cool.

And this is why I love Taylor Swift. Mid way through the show they pause and put up a silly video of Taylor and how she writes songs about guys and includes their names. Then, she appears 1 section over from us, singing in the crowd. A security NIGHTMARE, but absolutely awesome! She continues to sing through the crowd, hugging everyone in sight and then ends up on a stage almost directly in front of us.

She then continues singing on this stage (those suckers with "front row tickets" were probably pissed). Then she went back up to the real stage - all while hugging everyone she passed by.

For her encore, she came out wearing a San Jose Sharks jersey with her name on it.

Look closely. Do you see the word "NO"? It's actually a curtain of water and the words flow through the water. It was pretty cool.

Probably one of the best concerts I've seen. Even if she went way too far with the head banging/hair flipping drama. And I know there was some internet chatter a while back about how she's not all that great live. But she sounded great to us!

Kellie Pickler

Say what you will about Kellie Pickler - former American Idol contestant - but she rocked it. She was nursing a broken foot so there wasn't any dancing....maybe for the better?

I have a theory. Idol contestants are awesome. Why? The nature of the contest requires them to sing AWESOME in front of a live audience - on their first try. I've seen Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler, and they have all been fantastic. They pretty much sound like the CD - or better.

She was adorable and as sweet as she could be with her little southern accent.

Like I said, I wasn't a huge fan, but she won me over.

Run a half or full marathon...you know you want to

Nike Women's Marathon

When: Sunday, October 17th, 2010
Where: Starts at Union Square, San Francisco at 7AM
Cost: Half $115, Full $135

Here's the deal, lots of people want to do this race, so it is a random drawing. You give them your credit card info and then find out in a few weeks if you're in or not. That's how I got suckered into it last year :-) But I'm glad I did. It was a ton of fun (and that's saying a lot...coming from a girl who's built more for sprinting and jumping than long distance running). The random drawing registration ends on Friday, April 16th.

Before I started training last year, I maxed out at 3 miles. I only got up to 10 before race day and had no problem. This race is also great because there are a ton of walkers! So if you want to take it easy during your first half marathon, this is the one for you. At the same time, there are some pretty crazy athletes at the front of the pack for those looking for a personal record and a challenging run. The course is beautiful (albeit hilly) and it's a pretty motivating run with tons of spectators cheering you on.

For those of you in the bay area, Nike holds training runs leading up to the race. They have lots of giveaways and let you try out their shoes. They provide water, gatorade and luna snacks along the trail during long runs and there are pace leaders to help keep you running nice and even.

So what are you waiting for!

I want to register!

Gloriana

I really like Taylor Swift. She's stinkin' adorable and has some really fun songs. So of course, I was super psyched when she announced she was coming to San Jose for her Fearless Tour!

To make it even better, Beth came to visit this past weekend so we could attend the concert together!

We had pretty money seats. In the first row of one of the side sections. Why was it so money? Because we were a few feet above the people on the floor so there was almost no one blocking our view.

Gloriana was one of the openers and did an awesome job. I have a huge amount of respect for musicians that can play an instrument and sing. One of the Gloriana band members plays the tamborine, I have less respect for her.

Opening Day....

Well, it was officially opening day last Monday. But I'll write about it today.

Nick and I headed to the Oakland Coliseum last Monday to see the Mariner's take on the Athletics. We were pretty pumped that the M's were playing the opener in Oakland, so we took the opportunity to see our favorite team.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day in Oakland....Oxymoron? J/K

We saw Griffey hit a double!

Saw a W from the M's!

Saw some decent pitching from Felix!

An then there were the Oakland A's fans. Obviously I'm biased. I think Seattle fans are some of the most normal, nice people. Here are some interesting things I noted about A's fans.

1. It's 2010, you need to bring a little more to the table than "The Mariner's Suck" or "Ichiro Sucks." If it were August and we were in 4th place, then yes "The Mariner's Suck," but it's opening day. If you want to make fun of Ichiro, say something like "You've been here for how many years? Learn some English!" or "Stop dressing like a Harajuku doll" - but let's be honest people, he does anything but suck. You're just jealous he doesn't play for you,

2. The fashion sense at an Oakland game never ceases to amaze me. Take this young girl, scooby doo jacket and yellow, foam, A's Cowboy hat.

3. Drum roll please.....and something I'm pretty sure you'll only see at an A's game.....a mom feeding her 4 year old son a few sips of beer. Why? Because he asked for some? This happened on more than one occasion. I was horrified. Have fun when he's a teenager.